Needle for hay baler



Oct. 12, 1965 c. G. BARFIELD NEEDLE FOR HAY BALER Filed Dec. 6, 1963 Jmm United States Patent 3,211,084 NEEDLE FOR HAY BALER Charles G. Barfield, West Memphis, Ark., asslgnor to International Harvester Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 328,643 3 Claims. (Cl. 10024) This invention is a new and useful improvement of a needle for a hay baler. More particularly, the improvement comprises a retainer for holding slack wire in the wire slot of a baler needle on its return stroke.

One difiiculty with hay balers using wire as the binding material is that on the return stroke of the baler needle to its home position, the wire bulges out of the Wire slot in the needle and becomes entangled in other parts of the baler. As a result, the baler has to be shut down while the tangled wire is removed.

The cause of this trouble is believed to be the slack wire that builds up in the needle slot on the delivery stroke of the needle. When the needle is on its delivery stroke, the slack in the wire is taken up because the drag of pulling wire oil? of the coil keeps the wire taut. When the needle makes its return stroke, however, it moves back towards the coil of wire, thereby releasing the tension on the wire and giving the slack free rein. The excess wire can then bulge out of the wire slot in the needle and become entangled in the baler mechanism (e.g. in the packer fingers or the plunger).

The object of this invention is, in other words, to provide a hay baler needle having a retainer for controlling the slack in the baling wire on the return stroke of the needle.

The object of this invention is, in other wards, to provide a series of wire retainer springs in the wire slot of a baler needle, so as to confine slack wire inside the wire slot on the return stroke of the needle.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hay baler needle having a replaceable retainer, so that worn wire retainers may be replaced by new ones.

A baler needle embodying the novel wire retainer is shown in the drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a baler needle, showing the general location of the wire retainer springs along the length of the needle;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section through the needle taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing how the springs fit inside the needle; and

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of one of the novel wire retainer springs.

The novel baler needle disclosed herein comprises, in general, an arcuate body having a U-shaped cross section, a set of rollers 11 and 12 forming an eye 13 for passage of the baling wire, a series of wire retainer springs 14 located inside needle body 10, and a split bearing 15 for attaching the needle to the base pipe of a hay baler of the type shown in US. Patent No. 2,897,747. The parts of the needle may be fabricated out of any suitable material.

Needle body 10 is a sheet of material or an angle iron folded into a U-shape (see FIG. 2). The hollow of the U serves as a wire passageway or slot 17, a wire 18 being shown therein in normal operating position. At

one end of body 10, the bottom of the U is removed, leaving two sides of the U to support rollers 11 and 12. The space between the rollers forms the wire eye 13 for feeding wire to the baler. The other end of body 10 has attached to it a bearing bracket 16 carrying the split hearing 15, which mates with a baler base pipe.

The novel wire retainer forming the subject here-of comprises a plurality of spring clips 14 located along the wire slot 17. The springs 14 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) are made from a strip of material and have an oval-shaped body that fits the inside surface of wire slot 17. The ends of the strip of material are bent into semi-circular fingers 19 that abut against each other to provide a yieldable closure to the interior of the oval-shaped body. Fingers 19 fit into apertures or openings 20 formed in the walls of wire slot 17, which allow the fingers 19 to flex outwardly and, thereby, permit a wire to pass into the interior of spring clip 14. The spring clip fingers 19 provide sufficient resistance, however, to prevent passage of slack wire outwardly between the fingers. Three spring clips 14 are shown in the embodiment illustrated, but more clips may be used if the size of the baler needle or other factors warrant it. Also, should the parts of retainer 14 become worn by rubbing of the baling wire, the old retainer may be quickly removed and a new one slipped into place.

While only one specific form of the novel wire retainer is shown, it is recognized that the underlying concept of the invention may be applied in other Ways. For example, the fingers 19 can be made separately and attached to the walls of wire slot 17. Or, the spring clip 14 can be made with only one yieldable finger that spans slot 17. Still yet, the retainer element may be fastened to the needle body at the base of the U and the length of the fingers 19 shortened to a quarter circle, so as to do away with the slots 20. It is intended, therefore, that the attached claims cover these and all other similarly obvious modifications as well as the principal form illustrated.

The invention claimed is:

1. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a wire passageway in said needle body, said wire passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, means in said passageway for preventing the escape of slack balmg wire from said passageway during the return stroke of said needle, said means including at least one yieldable wire retainer element in said passageway at said open portion thereof, said retainer element including a pair of yieldable fingers substantially closing olf a portion of said passageway open portion.

2. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a wire passageway in said needle body having :a wall, said passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, a slot in one of said walls at said open portion of said passageway, a yieldable wire retainer element in said passageway adjacent said slot, said retainer element comprising a body member on said wall, a yieldable finger on said body member, a portion of said yieldable finger entering into said slot when said finger is fixed.

3. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a wire passageway in said needle "body havitng two parallel walls, said passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, an aperture in each of said parallel walls at said open portion of said passageway, at least one yieldable wire retainer element in said passageway adjacent said apertures, said retainer element comprising a body member on each of said parallel walls, a semi-circular yieldable finger at the end of each body member with the concavity of each said finger opening towards the respective adjacent parallel wall of said passageway, the tip of each yieldable finger entering into the respective adjacent aperture when the respective finger is fiexed, a pair of rollers at one end of said body forming an eye for normal egress of wire from said passageway, a web attached to the other end of said body, and a bearing for mounting said needle on a baler attached to said Web.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,909,300 5/33 Mayer 289-8 

1. A NEEDLE FOR A BALER, COMPRISING: A NEEDLE BODY, A WIRE PASSAGEWAY IN SAID NEEDLE BODY, SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY BEING OPEN FOR AT LEAST A PORTION OF ITS LENGTH, MEANS IN SAID PASSAGEWAY FOR PREVENTING THE ESCAPE OF SLACK BALING WIRE FROM SAID PASSAGEWAY DURING THE RETURN STROKE OF SAID NEEDLE, SAID MEANS INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE YIELDABLE WIRE RETAINER ELEMENT IN SAID PASSAGEWAY AT SAID OPEN PORTION THEREOF, SAID RETAINER ELEMENT INCLUDING A PAIR OF YIELDABLE FINGERS SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSING OFF A PORTION OF SAID PASSAGEWAY OPEN PORTION. 